This week in Android apps: SwiftKey’s keyboard app goes one-handed

The Weather Channel also got a makeover this week, and Super Mario goes biker.

While it's always a treat to discover new apps for your Android device, sometimes it's the ones we've been using all along that steal the spotlight with new updates. This week, the popular SwiftKey keyboard application got a major feature overhaul, while The Weather Channel app underwent a bit of a makeover that has convinced us to leave all our other weather apps on the shelf for a while.

We came across a few new applications, too. Last week's Ubuntu OS-like app panel was especially helpful in shoveling out more room on the home screen for widgets, but this week we'll touch upon an app that actually houses app icons in the notifications shade. And for nostalgia gaming junkies, we've found an app that's a great homage to the original Super Mario Bros.

One of the convenient things about being an Android user is the ability to select a third-party keyboard application that might better suit your needs. While the stock keyboard sometimes manages to get the job done, not every mobile user's fingers are built the same, and some of us look for alternative keyboards that fit us better.

We've covered SwiftKey before and have always been fond of its predictive engine. When you install it, you set up your language, and then it asks about your typing style and whether it can peep in on your conversations in other applications to learn how—and what—you type. It will then attempt to auto-populate the word it predicts you’re going to type next. So far, it's been pretty accurate.

This week’s update includes the addition of what SwiftKey calls the “flow,” which lets users trace words, phrases, and sentences on the keyboard with one thumb. It works similarly to other popular keyboard apps like Swype, but SwiftKey’s version definitely feels more fluid. It’s also incredibly helpful to have that predictive engine behind the one-finger gesture mechanic, because it’s aware of what you're about to type next. While I wasn't regularly using a swipe-type keyboard before, SwiftKey may have enticed me to give the one-finger keyboard another try.

If those widgets are taking up too much room on the home screen, give them the space they need by installing Quickly. This application houses up to twelve of your most essential apps in the notifications shade. To access the app you swipe down from the top of your Android device. To make apps visible within that panel, you swipe down on the Quickly box to bring them up. Curiously, Android 4.1 users will have to pinch-to-expand to show the shortcuts. If you need to get back to the Quickly application screen, swipe or pinch the panel again.

Quickly promises on its Google Play page that it does not run rampant in the background or overuse system resources. We haven't seen any change in battery life or performance since we've installed the app.

Doppler radar fans can get excited about this week’s update to The Weather Channel app on Android. The update includes timely notifications about when to expect a major shift in weather, faster maps with thorough weather detail, more videos of broadcasts from the actual Weather Channel, and optimization for Android tablets.

We should note that there is a giant Toyota advertisement that keeps the app free, which users have complained about on the Google Play store. We wouldn't mind paying for this particular app, especially with all of the new features, but for what it's worth we don't think the ad will be too much of a bother.

Awesome Land is indeed quite awesome. The game is a fun homage to all of the side-scrolling titles you may have loved in video games past. You play as Manley, a manly man who sports a hardcore leather jacket and is on a quest to retrieve his motorcycle back from the evil aliens who stole it. Guide him as he jumps on enemies to knock 'em out, and be sure to hit all of the stoplights along the way. The game features 25 levels and the option to place the virtual controls anywhere on the screen so you’re not accidentally bumping the back button all the time. We were actually quite pleased with the control mechanism of the game—it's much easier to maneuver than in other similar games we've tried.

As an aside, the game studio behind Awesome Land also released the Manos: The Hands of Fate side-scroller on the Google Play store this week. It's sure to delight the MST3K fan in you.

Florence Ion
Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.

I actually just downloaded swift key 2 days ago. I was sick of swype getting less and less accurate with every update, so i looked for an alternative. It has impressed me immensely, and was definitely worth the money. I love the ability to type with one, or both hands without needing to switch keyboards. It is also very accurate with flow, which is what i use most.

Swiftkey is genuinely magical. I just wish its performance didn't drop through the floor when exposed to documents of more than a couple of thousand words. That really limits its applicability and the usefulness of the platform for me as its about the only thing that makes entering text on a touchscreen tolerable.

I just switched from Swiftkey to TouchPal keyboard this week and so far TouchPal is the better alternative. Besides being free, it has much more customization behind it. The word prediction is not up to par with Swiftkey but it's nice just to have the bigger keyboard.

It works similarly to other popular keyboard apps like Swype, but SwiftKey’s version definitely feels more fluid

How about some specifics? If you are going to call it more fluid than swype, can we at least hear WHY you make such a claim? Which swype version did you compare it against? The preloaded versions on android phones or the current beta? I'm not a swype fanatic, but if you are going to make claims that something is better, then I would like some actual reasons.

It works similarly to other popular keyboard apps like Swype, but SwiftKey’s version definitely feels more fluid

How about some specifics? If you are going to call it more fluid than swype, can we at least hear WHY you make such a claim? Which swype version did you compare it against? The preloaded versions on android phones or the current beta? I'm not a swype fanatic, but if you are going to make claims that something is better, then I would like some actual reasons.

I've used Swype before on both a Nexus 7 and my Galaxy SIII, the latter of which is featured natively. I liked the "swipe" mechanic, but as a regular QWERTY keyboard it was sometimes frustrating to use, and really slow. Others I know swear by it, but for my particular use case it just didn't vibe with my typing style. So far, SwiftKey's been peachy keen.

Swiftkey's predictions are amazing and definitely the best I've seen, but their automatic spacing drives me nuts. Seems like it's always trying to put spaces where I don't want them. I'll be sticking with the stock 4.2 keyboard for now.

will like to have on screen T9 keyboards still, i remember when you could type with one thumb without looking at the screen.

Yup same here. No matter how much time I spend adapting to qwerty I eventually revert to T9 and write much faster - probably a case of clumsy troglodyte thumbs. Can recommend Smart Keyboard if you're in the same boat - it has T9 support and a lot of options. I miss the predictions and all-round polish of SwiftKey, and the new flow mode is fun to play with, but it's my second choice until it gets T9 support - which it probably won't

It works similarly to other popular keyboard apps like Swype, but SwiftKey’s version definitely feels more fluid

How about some specifics? If you are going to call it more fluid than swype, can we at least hear WHY you make such a claim? Which swype version did you compare it against? The preloaded versions on android phones or the current beta? I'm not a swype fanatic, but if you are going to make claims that something is better, then I would like some actual reasons.

Note the words "feels more fluid." I'm pretty sure that answered your question. It's a subjective call and no amount of wordage is going to convey anything other than what it is - an opinion.

It might be just me, but I'm kinda miffed at the overall 'we prefer mac & droids over anyone else' attitude. Is it advertising dollars from google that you're getting or what exactly?

Calm down, dude. I would've thought that the mountain of iOS articles in the past would've satisfied all the iOS users here. Apparently not. Don't like it, don't patronize Ars. I remember when every other tech article referred in some way to Apple. Some of it was so non sequitur that it was downright ridiculous. It irritated the hell out of me and I piped up a few times about it. Then I just learned to avoid certain articles written by certain writers.

I was pleasantly surprised, having just picked up a GS3 today (yes I know GS4 is out next month, I'm not a gamer, so the spec crawl isn't appealing anymore), that the Samsung stock keyboard is Actually Pretty Good. It looks like the stock ICS keyboard, maybe JB (it runs JB, 4.1.1) but it has trace typing (like Swype). I found it to be pretty amazing in the 5 minutes it took to put SwiftKey up there, which I'd just bought. But I really do like SwiftKey.

And that's funny, because I used to hate SwiftKey. Simply, it could not predict me. Which is funny, because I think I should be predictable to a computer. But in addition to the awesome Flow feature, I find SK predicting me more often than I expect. Even though, to my understanding, SK 3 was a free update to SK X, and Flow is a free update to that, and I could get it through Amazon for free, I've removed all of my dependencies on Amazon Appstore (from back when you couldn't take apps off your account, and they would spam you with notifications for updates that never existed, just to get you into the store), so I just paid Google the $2 for it. It's a good app and the dev deserves the money for it.

I was a huge Swype fan but the fact that they were taking their sweet time in fixing bugs (like swiping not working in the stock AOSP browser) made me go to SwiftKey once Flow was in beta.

Now I'm a happy SwiftKey user, though Swype still has a few nice features like shortcuts to select all the text, copy, paste etc, and the fact that it's better when it comes to inputting double letters (drawing a squiggle over the letter) in words like "see" where SK still struggles at times.

Ugh, the stock sgs3 keyboard is horrible. It takes a while, but it'll grow under your skin.

I am loving SwiftKey though.

Well, then I dodged a bullet, didn't I? I just thought, okay, basic ICS keyboard (I was told it came with ICS with an OTA to JB), and then it said I could slide type. The haptic feedback was just right (I usually disable that). It just felt accurate. Anyway, it won't get any time to do anything with my skin, because I'm on SwiftKey and I'm keeping it.

I love Swiftkey, but I think I may disable the Flow portion. I've found a couple of words I just can't do in that mode (wish I had written them down to share). Also, I can't see the keys that are behind my thumb or finger when I'm dragging instead of lifting after a keypress, so word selection takes longer.

You don't need to disable Flow. Swipe-type functionality can be hit or miss on long words, or if you're running over more common words while trying to get your less common one.

It's more an issue of practice, honestly. I came from Swype to SwiftKey Flow, and by now I've sort of gotten a feel for when SwiftKey will have issues - those words I just start typing out, instead of using the Flow. This is definitely better than Swype, however. I'm glad they had the beta to test it out on, otherwise I wouldn't have known it was worth the money to replace Swype.

I see a lot of people using Swiftkey, but the keyboard replacement that did it for me was Kii Keyboard that is just about to come out of beta. It has the predictive and the swype and a couple other features that I think puts it ahead of Swiftkey.

I had liked Swiftkey when there were no decent alternatives in Cyanogenmod. Then Swype Beta came out. Beta 1.2 was horrid; 1.3 less so, but I still returned to SwiftKey.

But then, a magical thing happened: Swype Beta 1.4 got released. I'm in heaven! Now, I exclusively use Swype, and never used other keyboards.

After using Swype for several months, I realized that I actually hated SwiftKey with a passion; try typing the following sentence:

Quote:

You must delete your .bashrc and .ssh files. And delete the file prefs.sh, if there's any.

SwiftKey not only adds a space after a period, it will rearrange your letters also! The phrase "your .bashrc" will be rearranged to "your. bashrc". And since I'm active in several Linux related forums and mailing lists, it quickly become an exercise in frustration.

Swype, on the other hand, is perfectly content to leave letters and punctuations unmolested, if you tapped on them individually.

Swype Beta 1.4 even has a rudimentary prediction ability, although I never relied on that.

I greatly expect the next release of Swype Beta to be the ultimate Androidgasm keyboard experience. And if it's a paid app, I'll purchase it without any doubts.

I'm getting fed-up with touch keyboards and the endless inadvertent auto-correction that means I only notice mistakes after I've already sent messages. I really wish more phone manufacturers would end this obsession with producing iPhone-like devices and bring back proper landscape QWERTY sliders, with more precise input meaning that auto-correction is not necessary in the first place.

That means you, Motorola, to release devices like the Photon Q in EUROPE. (Why do hobe companies assume Europeans don't want accurate typing ??) Make the bezel like the RAZR m/i and drop the pentile and my money is yours. And Sony, where is the Xperia Pro II?

I'm getting fed-up with touch keyboards and the endless inadvertent auto-correction that means I only notice mistakes after I've already sent messages. I really wish more phone manufacturers would end this obsession with producing iPhone-like devices and bring back proper landscape QWERTY sliders, with more precise input meaning that auto-correction is not necessary in the first place.

That means you, Motorola, to release devices like the Photon Q in EUROPE. (Why do hobe companies assume Europeans don't want accurate typing ??) Make the bezel like the RAZR m/i and drop the pentile and my money is yours. And Sony, where is the Xperia Pro II?

Every Android touch-keyboard I ever used, the auto-correction can be turned off. If you're wanting to go back to a physical keyboard mainly due to auto-correction driving you insane, why don't you just turn it off?

SwiftKey - I've been using it since their beta a few years back. At that time, they impressed me with their support. I had reported that you couldn't use SwiftKey with Google Voice (texting) because it would always erase the "To" entry. They had problems reproducing it because GV was not available in the UK, but they got back to me immediately and did get it fixed. Each version since has been an improvement. Highly recommended.

Weather Channel - their UI used to be competent. Now it is some kindergarten mess. When I open a weather app, I expect to see - oh, I don't know - maybe the weather? Not something reminiscent of a home screen widget "temperature" view with a big ad behind it where you need to hit the "+" to make the weather app show less than the old version did when it first opened. I'm looking to replace it since it has gone so far downhill with this version. I see recommendations for Weather Bug and will give that a try.

SwiftKey - I've been using it since their beta a few years back. At that time, they impressed me with their support. I had reported that you couldn't use SwiftKey with Google Voice (texting) because it would always erase the "To" entry. They had problems reproducing it because GV was not available in the UK, but they got back to me immediately and did get it fixed. Each version since has been an improvement. Highly recommended.

I love Swiftkey, but I think I may disable the Flow portion. I've found a couple of words I just can't do in that mode (wish I had written them down to share).

Is "and" one of them? I can go very clearly from the dead center of A to N to D and "abs" will usually be the first suggestion. I removed it and now its go-to prediction is "abdominal". WTF?

Worst ever: I was sliding "faster" and its first prediction was "fatter" followed by "gayer". I have never used the word "gayer" (well, until now). And I don't think I used "fatter". I think SwiftKey might have some anger issues. I did have it learn from my Facebook, but I'm not sure if it only learns stuff I've posted (which would make sense) or stuff others have posted as well.

paul5ra wrote:

I'm getting fed-up with touch keyboards and the endless inadvertent auto-correction that means I only notice mistakes after I've already sent messages. I really wish more phone manufacturers would end this obsession with producing iPhone-like devices and bring back proper landscape QWERTY sliders, with more precise input meaning that auto-correction is not necessary in the first place.

That means you, Motorola, to release devices like the Photon Q in EUROPE. (Why do hobe companies assume Europeans don't want accurate typing ??) Make the bezel like the RAZR m/i and drop the pentile and my money is yours. And Sony, where is the Xperia Pro II?

The Photon Q is not a good phone. Also, built-in keyboards are bad. They're cheap and if something goes wrong, what then? You now have a useless component you can't fix. No Thanks. Meanwhile, if your phone supports USB on the go, you can use a USB keyboard. Those are pretty cheap. Bluetooth keyboards start at around $20 and go up to $100 (maybe more). A Bluetooth keyboard will work with your current phone, your next phone, your tablet, your PC/notebook, it will work with Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, etc. It might even work with a PlayStation 3/4. And it really is a joy to type on a real keyboard. Fun fact: A Bluetooth mouse will work as well. You get the standard Linux black cursor (in most ROMs, I doubt many of them change the cursor, if any) and it Just Works like you would expect. Some ROMs even have an option to change the pointer speed. Smartphone + keyboard = bliss. Built-in ones... eh, not so much.

I'd like to give "Notification Toggle" a nod here because not only does it allow you to put app shortcuts in the notification shade, but also setting toggles -- some of this is built into 4+, but they expose many more toggles (optionally) and as someone on 2.3, it's invaluable.

Handy access to flashlight and brightness toggles that don't take up my homescreen and are available from within apps has been super useful.

And for weather: Elecont Weather. I thought everyone knew this already.

I'm not sure what purpose Quickly serves. My screen is mostly taken up by widgets, but you can stack your app shortcuts in the toolbar (or whatever the 4-slot thing at the bottom is called).

Officially? Dock. Probably goes all the way back to the old zip-line dock on the (really) old Mac OS. Really old versions of MS Office had a dock, but it floated and defaulted near the top. Then there's Rocketdock and all the similar ones. (I had AquaDock before Apple sued it out of existence.) Kinda gutsy, them calling it a dock, now that I think about it. Anyway, some launchers let you disable the dock if you want to.

I have been using swifkey for couple of months back, i use to keep using it if a new and better product was not available, I found one .. Adaptxt. swiftkey was a good keyboard but Adaptxt is a better one, You take it in terms of qualitative predictions, look and feel of the keyboard and its amazing feature list. It also has the highest number of Language dictionary support which unfortunately no other keyboard have.

I would suggest you guys to start using this amazing keyboard called Adaptxt keyboard which is not only effiecient and better but its available for free on play store.